Brooke Burke Biography

Born on September 8, 1971 in Hartford, Connecticut, actress and model Brooke Burke has a unique and exotic look that comes from her multi-ethnic background which includes a French-Irish heritage on her father George's side, and Portuguese-Irish heritage on her mother Donna's side. She is the middle child of 7 siblings with 3 older sisters and 3 younger brothers. While little is known about Brooke's parents, it appears likely that they divorced as her biological father left the family when Brooke was just two years old. After that Brooke's mother Donna moved to Tucson, Arizona and fell in love and married with Armen Hartounian, who helped raise Brooke and her siblings as their mother worked three jobs to support the family needs.

Never did Brooke envision herself in the entertainment industry, instead of wanting to pursue an atypical career. She actually wanted to be a rock band drummer. She says, "When I was young, I wanted to do something more low-key, like become a drummer in a rock band". It's obvious that Brooke's aspirations weren't a career in modeling, but when she accompanied a friend to a modeling agency in Scottsdale, Arizona, she was discovered by a talent scout who happened to be there. From that time, the former beauty pageant winner decided to pursue a modeling career and became a print model by the age of 18, in everything from magazine covers and billboards to swimsuit calendars. Wanted took that modeling opportunity to jump fully into the entertainment field, Brooke moved to Los Angeles and studied broadcast journalism at UCLA.